Fiber

I’ve had an advance copy of The Full Plate Diet on my desk for a few weeks now (along with what appears to be the coolest origami book ever made), and it has some interesting parts—mainly a food rating section in the back that shows which prepared foods are ok and which to stay away from. But here’s the thing: The whole point of the book is to tell you fiber is good. That’s the new thing, fiber.

Don’t get me wrong, fiber is good stuff. My grandma used to extol its virtues every chance she got (in my head, I still hear the word in her New York accent, “foibuh”). But isn’t that common sense? Do we really need books and diet plans and a whole industry built around the fact that fiber is good for you? At least Dr. Atkins had a novel (ok, nutso) approach to dieting.

I’m ranting, I know. But I wish that some of those resources that are going toward promoting fiber would be redirected to making fresh fruits and vegetables more affordable and readily available. Maybe they could subsidize farmers markets, brand them and stuff. Just something for all you diet-industrial complex honchos who are reading this to think about. You know, food for thought (hardy har).